What do secrecy and deferment of publication mean?

Your application for a design registration will be made public immediately on the application date, unless you request to keep it secret.

If you request secrecy in your application, we will keep the designs included in the application secret for a maximum of six months. We recommend that you request secrecy for example if you still need to develop the design of your product to some extent.

Keeping the application secret prolongs the processing time, because a secret design cannot be registered or published.

If you request to keep your application secret, you will have the opportunity to withdraw it during the secrecy period. That may be necessary if, as a result of further development, the design has been transformed into another design.

You can also withdraw your original application and file a new application, with the relevant payments and documents, for your new design during the secrecy period. The design in the original application will not prevent the registration of your new design, since an application which has been withdrawn during the secrecy period will never become public.